What They Don't Know
by Wrighter92
Summary: It's just another boring Saturday at the cave when Robin gets called to Gotham to help Batman track down a rising mob boss. Set during season one.


**A/N: This is just a really quick oneshot I threw together when the inspiration struck. It's set during season one with the original team because I just don't really like writing fanfic with the huge new team in season two. Enjoy! :)**

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Robin lounged on the couch in the cave's Rec room, his feet resting on the coffee table in front of him. Artemis lay sprawled on the ground in front of the TV, no longer watching the movie that was playing and instead devoting her attention to sharpening her arrows. Wally was reclining next to Robin and casting frequent glances toward the kitchen, where M'gann had disappeared to make more pop corn for him. Conner and Kaldur had long since lost interest in the old James Bond movie and Kaldur had begun teaching Conner how to play chess, but despite the best efforts of the Atlantean, Conner was losing magnificently. It was just another a Saturday at the cave and the team wasn't expecting anything interesting to happen, so they had dug out a collection of movies the they'd all contributed to at some point or another and spent the greater part of a half hour fighting over which one to show first.

In the end Robin had won after Wally took his side in the argument. An hour and a half later their boredom had once again caught up with them. . . and it was still only 11:30 in the morning.

"Alright Wally, here you go," M'gann said, levitating a bowl of fresh popcorn onto the speedster's lap. Wally gave a whoop of delight and dug in with gusto. M'gann settled down next to him on the couch and alternated her attention between the TV and the chess game, occasionally sneaking a piece out of Wally's bowl.

Artemis finished with her last arrow and let her arm fall lip beside her on the floor. She glanced sideways at Robin and said hopefully, "Boy Wonder, you wanna train with me? Better than staying in here wallowing in boredom."

Robin shrugged. "Sure. Wally, you wanna come?"

"Nah, man, I'm good here," Wally said as he shoved another handful of popcorn into his mouth. Robin stood and stretched while Artemis picked her quiver off the floor. As they started toward the hall to the training room Robin's communicator went off and Batman's voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Robin, I've received intel on the new mob boss. I'll be at the old warehouse across from the donut place at the harbor. Meet me there as fast as possible. Batman out."

"Robin?" Artemis asked curiously. She had stopped half way between him and the hallway after realizing he was no longer with her.

"Sorry," he said, already turning the other way, "Gotham business; training will have to wait!" And with that he ran off to the zeta tube.

Twenty minutes later Robin was in costume and crouched beside his mentor on the roof of a warehouse, their sights pointed at an unassuming donut shop just across the street.

"He's seriously hiding in a donut place?" Robin asked for the dozenth time after realizing it wasn't the warehouse they would be investigating.

Batman remained silent, his eyes fixed resolutely on the large front window of the shop, right underneath the burnt-out neon sign reading:

_Mal's Donuts_

_Get 'em while they're hot!_

Robin didn't quite understand how the logo was supposed to attract customers, but decided it was better to wait until after the mission to mention it to Bruce.

They remained crouched on the roof for another few minutes, Batman glaring at the window and Robin attempting to copy him but instead finding his attention wander between the strange sign and the people on the street below. It was after a wannabe gang of teenagers sauntered past acting like they owned the street that Batman finally spoke.

"Alright, you know what to do. Standard stealth."

Robin grinned and stood up to stretch his legs. He grappled across the street and landed on the roof of Mal's Donuts, heading straight to the ventilation shaft that stuck out of the roof like a large metal 'f' and slipping the grill quietly from the frame. Without a moment hesitation he slipped into the vent feet first and slid down a length of the shoot before coming to rest at a curve in the metal. He quickly made his way to the first opening he could find and peered down into the room below. It appeared to just be an empty office space, so he dropped carefully down into the room and headed for the window.

After checking for any visible security measures, he unlocked it and slid the glass up. A quick glance at the street below let him know he was on the second floor of the shop at the very back of the building. He relayed the information to Batman and moments later the man slipped in through the window. They had used this tactic often in the recent months after Robin demonstrated his skill at navigating air ducts. Batman was too big to fit through most of the vents, but Robin was the perfect size for the job.

Without a word the duo moved through the building, but they didn't meet a single thug, goon, or mobster on either of the two floors. They quickly found their way to the place where the kitchen would normally be on the first floor, but instead found it largely demolished and ransacked kitchen with a gaping hole in the floor and a flimsy rope ladder dangling down into the darkness. The pair shared a glance and as one leapt down into the hole to land lightly on the stone floor below.

As soon as their feet touched the ground lights flared to life all around them, blinding the pair with the sudden brightness. When Robin's vision cleared he found himself surrounded by over a dozen burly goons, all of them carrying various cheap weapons and wearing the same confident grin he'd seen all too often. It was the grin of men who thought they finally had the Dynamic Duo cornered and imagined themselves being the ones to defeat Gotham's Dark Knight. They never learned.

Without a second thought Robin launched himself into the air, summersaulted over the heads of the nearest goons, and landed behind them like a shadow. The men turned too late, and both received a punch to the face while their feet were swept out from under them. Before they had even hit the ground Robin moved on to face his next opponent.

The thug must have been almost seven foot and easily the beefiest guy there. He had opted to use his fists rather a gun, and when he grinned stupidly Robin counted at least four missing teeth. The hero tossed a knockout gas pellet at the goon's face before the man could advance more than a step toward him. It exploded on impact and the greenish gas enveloped his head. When the gas cleared the last thing the goon saw was Robin's fist flying at his face. He crumpled, overcome by the gas and Robin's well-placed punch.

Robin wiped off his hands and turned to face the rest of the goons, but just as he turned around he caught sight of a silvery glint of light accompanied by a loud gunshot and felt a sudden, searing pain in his right arm. He held back a shout and threw a birdarang in the direction of the gun. There was a satisfying shout of pain and the clanking of metal on stone as the man dropped his gun. Robin kicked out at a nearby goon who was trying to sneak up on him, his left hand clamped around his bleeding arm.

"Batman, let's wrap it up!" He called. His partner paused in the middle of his own fight to glance at Robin's injured arm, nodded, and resumed the fight to punch a goon on the nose.

Robin took out another three goons using a variety of one-handed tools from his belt. When he finished with the last one he glanced around to find every last one of the thugs laying sprawled on the ground around his and Batman's feet. Batman started tying up the men in the middle of the room and Robin turned his gaze to edges of the brightly-lit space. He had been too focused on the fight before to notice the piles of wooden crates stacked against one wall. He made his way over to the nearest one, not bothering to avoid treading on the fallen thugs. A quick kick broke open the crate and he peered in to see it filled with various rounds of ammunition. The new mob boss must have been using the donut shop to distribute the ammo without anyone suspecting him. _At least he's creative,_ Robin thought. _If I have to break into one more old abandoned warehouse to find one of these guys. . ._

"It's just ammo," he announced. "Where's the boss?"

"Not here," Batman said unnecessarily. He turned a concerned look in Robin's direction as the boy grabbed his arm again with a slight hiss of pain. Now that the fighting was over he was finally starting to feel the pain of the wound. "Can you drive back to the cave? I'll finish up here. You need to get that fixed." Batman's voice was clipped and business-like, but Robin knew from experience that he was just worried. He wasn't eager to leave so soon, but the mob boss wasn't here and there wasn't much he'd be able to do anyway.

"Yeah, I can make it," Robin huffed. "Just don't do anything exciting until I'm patched up, okay?"

"I can't promise that," Batman said with a slight smile. Robin grinned.

He grappled out of the cellar and made his way outside to the alley where he had hidden his motorcycle, leaving Batman to finish up with the thugs. He drove slower than he normally did, having to steer with only one hand, but made it back to the batcave in good time.

Alfred was waiting for him when Robin parked the motorcycle, with that same resigned look on his face that he always had when he or Bruce came home bloody. Robin grinned apologetically.

"Hey, Alf! Have you got something to eat? I'm starving!"

Alfred sighed. "You can eat as soon as I'm done with you, Master Dick."

Robin grinned again and mad his way to the medical area. He took off his mask, noticing as he did so that his left glove was covered in blood. The red fluid was still trickling down his other arm from the wound near his elbow.

"What was it this time?" Alfred asked.

"Couple of thugs hiding out in a donut shop with a bunch of ammo in the basement," Robin answered as he steeled down on the table, watching Alfred gather the bandages and disinfectant. "They had ton of super cheap guns, too. You'd think the bosses would want their hired guns to be properly armed, huh?"

"That would be my first thought," Alfred said. Robin held still while the butler cleaned his arm. He was so used to the sting of the disinfectant by now that he barely even flinched. Apparently the bullet had only grazed his skin, but that didn't stop it from hurting like hell.

Robin suddenly remembered something. "I meant to ask Bruce. . . why would you want to get donut while they're hot? They're just as good cool."

Alfred spared him a curious glance. "What brought this on?"

"The sign at the donut place. It seems like weak marketing to me."

"That's very true."

"So you don't understand it either?" Robin asked, disappointed.

"Not everyone has your boundless creativity, Master Dick," Alfred answered sagely. "There you go. Just try not to overexert yourself for a few days."

Robin smirked. "You know me, Alfie. When do I ever push myself too hard?"

With an amused sigh from Alfred, Robin jumped off the table and bounded up to the mansion above. He changed out of uniform quickly, pulling on a jacket to cover the bandages on his right arm, and slid downstairs on the railing to meet Alfred in the kitchen. He grabbed a cookie from the plate offered to him and ran from the room again, shouting back at Alfred to tell Bruce that he'd be at the cave for the rest of the day.

A few minutes later the zeta tube announced Robin's arrival back at the cave. He found the rest of the team still gathered in the Rec room, halfway through what looked like an old black and white episode of Doctor Who. Wally was snoring on the couch while Artemis took up the only space not occupied by the speedster's legs, looking for all the world like she was slowly dying from the inside out due to boredom. Conner was sulking on an armchair, an abandoned chess game still on the table. M'gann was perched on the back of Kaldur's chair, reading a book over his shoulder and casting occasional glances at Conner's pouting face.

The Martian looked up when Robin entered the room and smiled warmly. "How was your 'Gotham business'?" she asked.

"Oh, you know. Same old stuff," Robin half shrugged and vaulted over the back of the couch, landing on Wally's legs and causing the speedster to wake with a snort.

"Dude! Not cool!" Wally complained. "I was having a good dream!"

"Sorry, KF," Robin said, trying to sound apologetic but ruining it with a smirk. Wally kicked at his shoulder and Robin laughed to hide his wince. Nevertheless, something flickered in Wally's eyes, but Robin shook his head. He didn't tell the team half of what went on in Gotham, and he had no intention to start now. Wally knew a bit more, of course, but Robin figured some stories just weren't worth telling. It wasn't like this latest injury was anything new, so he didn't want to bother mentioning it. He never asked for full accounts of what Wally did in Central City, or Artemis in Star. It seemed to be a general unspoken agreement that superheroes kept secrets, and Robin liked that rule. What the team didn't know about his time in Gotham wouldn't kill them, and what he didn't know about their own cities certainty wasn't eating at him inside.

He grinned suddenly and seized Wally's ankle with his left hand, attempting to drag the speedster off the couch. Wally flailed wildly and grabbed hold of Artemis's wrist to keep himself from falling to the floor, but the archer, rather than assisting him, joined Robin in dragging him to the ground. Wally shouted at this treachery, but Robin and Artemis just laughed. They quickly clambered back onto the couch, taking up as much room as possible so Wally had nowhere to sit. But without missing a beat the speedster leaped on top of them both and they all toppled back to the floor in a heap, laughing loudly. When Robin finally surfaced from the tangle of limbs, he saw the rest of the team watching them with amusement. He laughed again as Artemis's hair got caught in the zipper of Wally's jacket and she started shouting curses at him while they both fumbled with the tangled hair. Robin climbed onto the couch triumphantly, gingerly gripping his arm where the bullet wound was throbbing. But the pain didn't bother him too much as Artemis finally freed her hair and kicked Wally before plopping herself down next to Robin and crossing her arms moodily.

Robin leaned back with a contented smirk to watch the last few minutes of the episode. Wally sat down as far away from Artemis as he could on the couch and glared at the black and white actors on the screen, determinedly not looking at the archer. Kaldur and M'gann had turned their attention back to the book and Conner was once again staring moodily into space, although he looked slightly less surly than before. After the excitement of his trip back to Gotham, Robin was happy to just sit an rest again, though he found himself wishing he had taken a few more of Alfred's cookies.


End file.
